All That is Terrible All that is Grand
by OmNomNomingNid
Summary: The gifted world of Aden has finally found salvation in the stars above. However a chance encounter with a turian fleet will force the people of Aden to adapt to the mass effect; and in turn the Citadel races will have to learn to live in the Thunderscape. A Mass Effect x Thunderscape/Pathfinder Crossover starting with First Contact.
1. Where Destiny Begins

**All That is Terrible, All That is Grand **

_ Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect, that belongs to Bioware. I don't own Thunderscape, that belongs to __Kyoudai Games. D&amp;D does not belong to me, it belongs to Wizards of the Coast. And I don't own Pathfinder, either the stuff published by Paizo or the Third-Party Materials; I will attempt to name any and all content that appears in this story by publisher and product at the end of each chapter in which it appears. _

_**Chapter One: Where Destiny Begins**_

"Captain Irrian! Unauthorized vessels are attempting to activate the Relay; they don't match any model on our know registries but they appear to be a freighter and corvette escort. Orders?"

Turian captain Naslen Irrian of the _New Venture _walked behind the officer who had just informed him of the development. Leaning over his shoulder the captain twitched his mandibles in agitation as he read over the data himself. He hated privateers; they acted liked they owned the galaxy. "Status? Have they noticed us yet?"

"Negative, as far as we can tell sir. They appear to be preparing to transit out of system"

"I see," Irrian nodded. "Move to engage. Target the freighter first."

A turian on a communications spoke out at the order. "Sir, the ship designs don't match anything in our database- what if they are piloted by a race that hasn't contacted the Citadel yet?" The officer's voice was weak as he knew dangers of speaking against a superior's orders. Luckily for him Irrian was a patient leader.

"A valid concern but one I doubt. We are close enough to the Terminus Systems that this could easily be a illegal operation supplying some pirate outpost- happens all the time. Besides it is our duty to ensure Relays out of Citadel space remain inactive, no matter what. Now, bring us within firing range quietly and take that freighter out."

Aye captain!" the bridge responded as they carried out the order, unknowingly starting a series of events that would forever change the galaxy.

**0o0**

In the atmosphere over Shanxi, a shuttle was descending. It had descended a hundred times before and was expected to descend a thousand times again before to would cease to be used. Those on board really didn't have time to think about that though. In the hold twelve marines, fresh from Basic, where ready to make a name for themselves. Many would go on to lay their lives down in the name of their Alliance, and in return would be honored by the nations that made it up. However amongst the group only one would go on to be legend, one that would be instrumental in saving the galaxy and beyond. The one called Shepard.

He sat alone, amber-cut eyes staring at a window at the city of Bardro below him. The sight below him made him feel admiration for the Shanxi colonists. In twelve short years it had gone from a collection of prefab-buildings to a mini-metropolis after the first veins of manite had been found. _'Amazing how fast miners can fix a place up,' _he mused to himself.

"So, who did you piss off to get shipped to the edge of space ironborn? Or does High Command really hate you when you are made from brass?" Shepard turned to face the newcomer, a tall woman with green skin and pointed fangs, her black hair shaved short except for a tight bun in the back. She was flesh and blood, unlike himself, who had a similar frame but alchemical organs housed inside a bare, brass frame. A jurak and a ironborn respectively, just two of the races that composed the Aden Alliance. Although only one had recently been officially allowed to join.

"I actually requested this posting; and my name is Shepard," the construct noted.

"Whatever you say clank," the woman noted with amusement. "Can't imagine why you'd request a posting on Shaxi though; so far away from all of the action. Looking for a safe tour of duty, eh?"

Shepard just shook his head at the jurak, his mechanical mouth pulling up into a smirk. "Apparently you never heard of the acid hounds native to the planet."

Her eyes went wide with the comment as her smile turned into a frown. "Acid hounds?! What the Hell is a acid hou-!"

"ATTENTION:" came the pilot's voice over the intercom. "The shuttle is making its final approach and will be landing in the next five minutes. Prepare for departure." The two marines' eyes meet following the announcement as Shepard stood up.

"You got a name?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she grunted. "It's Jack; pleasure to meet your shiny-ass."

**0o0**

_**Time-Line of the Unified Age of Aden**_

_**Year 1154:** Urbana miners uncover a series of caverns that stretch for untold miles in all directions. While believes to be a natural occurrence at first, it is at closer inspection that the tunnels are determined to not only have been dug out, but that they are fairly new. _

_**Year 1156: **A elf wizard by the name of Guillian claims to have found ruins on Older Brother, the larger of Aden's two moons. I the name of exploration and discovery he mounts a extended expedition to the celestial body,taking a handful of followers and volunteers with him. The expedition is met with some curiosity as it departs but is overlooked by many nations as they focus on the threat that is the Darkfall._

_**Year 1168: **The origin of the tunnels is discovered as countless numbers of illithix and other foul creatures pour out of the ground, laying siege to nearly every major settlement west of the Sundered Desert. They are lead by a entomancer named Weis, who aligns himself with the foul forces of the Darkfall. The strife Aden suffered before is soon considered just a prelude to a great war that nearly ended with with the Darkfall's conquest of civilization on Aden. _

_It is also around this time a alchemist in Guillian's expedition crafts the first ironborn to help excavate the ruins they have been living in. All though a simple construct at first it gains sapience after accidental exposure to a spell. Despite what many fear the ironborn wants peace but asks to be apprenticed by its creator. Learning rapidly, the ironborn dubs itself the First and sets out to prefect the creation of others like it. The ironborn come into their own, aiding with exploring the ruin on Older Brother. _

_**Year 1190: **Weis is killed after twenty-two years singeing half of Aden by the arrival of an army of ironborn wielding very advanced technologies. After some time routing the remaining hordes, the people of Aden learn that Guillian and his team did in fact uncover ruins on the moon, and that those ruins once played host to alien race called the Protheans. Although they are gone, Guillian and his team had already made great progress in learning from what the Protheans left behind. Aden now has spaceflight. _

_**Year 2002: **In order to be strong when the Darkfall rallied its forces again, the nations of Aden, from Arasteen to Yzeem, from the Aden Alliance, commonly called the Alliance. On top of building up a combined military force and industrial complex, the Alliance is also directed towards space exploration, colonizing worlds for more resources and means to defeat the Darkfall once and for all. _

_It is also at this time that several illithix hives show themselves before the new Alliance and pledge their allegiance to it. They claim that the Darkfall is corrupting the illithix people into something terrible and destroying the hives that resist it. By joining the Alliance they hope to not only protect themselves but repent for their previous actions as agents of Weis. _

_**Year 2039: **The Aden Alliance has spread throughout the solar system, setting up military fortresses and mining operations on the Twins and the Regent. Advances in technology and magic are made in droves as new fields seemed to be opened daily. Electrotech, akashic mysteries, digital studies, psioncis, binding, lifeshaping, occult studies, element zero- in less than a century these new fields and more lead to the greatest era sine the Age of Thunder. It is this year specifically though that the Mass Relay is found at the edge of the solar system. The people of Aden can now touch other stars._

_**Year 2080: **The colony of Shanxi is founded at the edge of explored space and begins to expand rapidly as it is found to be rich in manite veins while it's lone moon is full of element zero. It is soon called the Prospector's Paradise. _

_This year also ends with great controversy. It is this year that the ironborn, after years of petitioning for full rights as living beings and not just constructs, are granted just that. Many take this as a joke but go along with ruling in any event; others still refuse the ironborn as tools acting out of place. It is made illegal for anyone but ironborn to create more ironborn but some overlook this law, making the constructs for cheap labor or war machines. _

_**Year 2087: **The Present Day_


	2. The Enemy is Unkown!

**All That is Terrible, All That is Grand**

** Author's Note: Picked up Chaositech, Cyicist001. Great read and I will be working towards incorporating some stuff from it into the story. **

_**Chapter Two: The Enemy is Unknown!**_

Feet clanking across the metal deck, Shepard walked over to a railing and leaned over it, taking in the scenery below. Second day on Shanxi and the ironborn was already on assignment- crewing a Thundertrain specifically, not that it bothered him. He liked the the roar of the engines and the crashing of trees as the massive land transport plowed through anything in its way. It would basically be a cruise if you replaced the ocean with mud; there was only one thing truly robbing him of a perfect experience.

He wasn't the only new trooper to get posted on the train.

Jack, on shaking, uneasy legs, did her best to follow Shepard, although she dare not get close to the railing."I hate these things! They move to damn fast to be pounding into stuff like this! Fuck 'em!"

"Really?" the brass man asked. "You realize the starship that brought us to Shanxi moved at speeds that cleared planets in minutes? Hell, when we used the Relay we shot through space faster than light; how can this be getting to you?"

"That was in space, dip shit!" Jack hissed out at him. "With artificial gravity, you know? We could have jumped star systems in seconds and I would never be able to feel to ship in transit. Here though? Well gravity works!" The Thundertrain shuddered as it knocked a particularly massive tree down, causing Jack to stumble as Shepard bit back a mechanical grin. "Agh! This thing is shit!"

Shepard just shook his head at her. "Be nice to the _Druid Plow_, she is top of the line. Fastest train on Shanxi."

"Eh, is that right? Who told you that?"

"Tzark did; you really should listen to him more often."

"The goreaux? Little green smart ass thinks he knows everything! Bet he can't think so well when bullets start flying."

"Heh, you should treat Tzark with a little more respect. He is our senior after all."

Jack huffed at Shepard. "Maybe in years, but last I checked he doesn't have more bars on his chest. He'll get my respect when he can demand it from me, and even then only if I feel like it."

"Not a lot of room on Shanxi for promotions," added a third voice. The two turned to a hatch hiding a little further on the deck that opened up, revealing the goblin-like Tzark as he pulled himself up onto the deck. Small, not even reaching the waists of the other two, and possessing a bald head with long, pointy ears, the green man was far from intimidating. Still Shepard gave him a repectful nod while even Jack stood up a little straighter. "Shanxi maybe a goldmine but the fact that its so far from anything else makes it a hard sell for pirates and Fallen. You'll spend more time clearing out hound nests and policing mining sites than doing anything else. Jobs that need to be done but mostly thankless- those with potential are usually shipped off somewhere else."

Jack smirked at that, glancing at Shepard. Looks like I won't be here for long then; try not to miss me." The jurak started laughing only for the _Druid Plow_ to violently shake as it smashed through another large obstacle. Shepard and Tzark were both able to grab onto something to support them, however Jack could not. With another thud she hit the deck hard. "Dammit!"

"Sorry for the turbulence," muttered Tzark as he checked his blue-tinted omni-tool, looking at some data readouts. "We have been assigned to clear a new route to a rich mining site. No easy paths exist so we are making a new one."

Rising to her feet, Jack just frowned at the information. "You know I joined the marines to be a warrior and kill shit, right?"

Shepard shrugged at her, leaning comfortably against the railing. "You picked the wrong outfit to wear then. Marines are not just soldiers, but engineers and explores too."

"Save the pamphlet talk Tin Man, I went through basic too; I just never thought I'd be clearing a damn road for Thundertrains."

"After creating the new route we have to investigate a nearby swamp to make sure the acid hounds aren't spawning in the area." Tzark piped in as he dismissed his omni-tool, his gaze turned distant and troubled. "They are extremely territorial and aggressive, just two capable of turning into a thousand in a single breeding season. The miners need us to hunt them down every so often to make sure they don't become a problem."

"Well at least that could be fun," muttered Jack.

"Trust me, it won't be," the somber goreaux replied.

**0o0**

"_This is the _Uproar_ patrol vessel to Shanxi Fleet Command; come in Fleet Command._"

Communications officer Frell Roth, Ensign, answered the _Uproar_ as it monitored 'Shx-Relay 2', the second Relay in the system and the one pointing towards unknown space. "This is Fleet Command over Shanxi _Uproar; _all going well?"

"_As fair as ever Command. The Relay is reading incoming however."_

"It's likely the scout fleet on return. They are only three days late."

"_Must have found something good." _There was a slight pause as Frell waited for further updates. _"And they should be back in three...two...one...OH CRAP!? Command! A fifty ship fleet just jumped in; not a single ship is matching standard readouts! They are aliens! Orders?"_

Frell had to fight off a panic attack he felt coming on. "Try hailing them! I will get in touch with someone who is actually qualified to handle this; 'til then stall them!"

"_Alright, we'll try to st- weapons fired!" _screamed the communications officer on the _Uproar_. _"They are hostil-"_ The line went dead.

"Crap! Frell, the _Uproar _is gone! Readings show it was just blown away," spoke up one of his fellow officers. "We have to do something."

Frell gave in and started panicking. His fingers flying in rapid course, the elf began broadcasting on every frequency his station could send out, public, military, and otherwise. "Attention anyone! Scratch's Taint, everyone! We just had a hostile, **unknown** fleet jumped into system and they are heading for Shanxi; this is not a drill! Fleet prepare for combat! Marines prepare for combat! Everyone else? Good luck!"

**0o0**

"'Join the core' they said! 'Do something with all that aggression you have' they said! Bull shit!" muttered a angry jurak as she brought an axe up and then down at a massive, fallen tree. Specifically a tree that the the _Druid Plow _ had managed to knock over before getting caught up on it as it wedged itself between its many wheels.

"JACK!" finally shouted a frustrated Shepard, preforming the same duties as his fellow marine. "I swear to whatever higher power you believe in I will bash your head open if you don't stop complaining! That's all you ever done since we've meet; that's a straight week of bitching I have had to put up with! And I can't put up with it anymore!"

Jack didn't immediately respond immediately, taken back by the normally collected ironborn's out burst. She didn't expect him to snap at her. Maybe Tzark or another marine on the _Plow _but certainly not Shepard. "Are you threatening me, tin can?" she asked as she pulled the axe out of the log and gripped it tight. She wasn't sure, but she was almost sure Shepard growled at her before answering.

"Yes, it is a threat. I figured you would know one when it is tossed your way but clearly you are denser than I expected." The construct left his axe lodged in the wood but took a fighting stance, ready to brawl. "Now are you going to stay quiet and work or do I need to crack open your skull to reach you?"

Jack sneered at Shepard before leaping at him with her axe. "I'll kill you you son of a bitch!" She tried to bring the weapon down on his head but he caught the handle and shoved it to the side. The momentum of her swing kept her moving past him as Shepard grasped her top knot and pulled back. It was with enough force that Jack hit the ground hard, filling her vision with stars.

Dazed, but not out, the jurak gave out a frustrated yell along with a burst of biotic energy. The wave of gravity spread out from her and slammed into her metal opponent, sending him sprawling onto ground nearby. It was not a soft landing. Still, both started to stand up for round two when a massive form fell between the two of them. They barely had time to react before both found themselves lifted off the ground by the collars of their uniforms. ""Care to explain why errant Tzark had to fetch me from comm to break up a pair of awol troopers?" asked a large rhino, walking on two legs.

"Apologies, Captain Huered. I lost my temper and instigated a fight," said Shepard as he gave no resistance to his current predicament.

"And why is that?" asked Huered, the pale ferran clearly agitated by the current events.

"Because he's an ass!" yelled Jack. She acted the opposite of Shepard, kicking and struggling in the officer's grip.

"Enough! Both of you are a disgrace to the marines!" He dropped them as they both fell with heavy thuds. "Under normal circumstances both of you would be detained for your behavior. That's not the current case though."

Standing with a groan, Shepard questioned his superior. "What do you mean sir? What's happening?"

"War is happening! Command just sent out a broadcast- a invasion of unknown hostiles are due within the next few hours and we have orders to make for a rendezvous at Mt. Vestment." Glancing at the unfinished work of the due, the captain gave a snort before growing even bigger. Now taller than the other two marines combined he grabbed what was left of the log the _Plow _was caught up on and pulled. He grunted with effort before slowly removing the obstruction and tossing it aside.

"Now get back on board and get into your hardsuits. I can taste glorious battle on the horizon."

**0o0**

_Codex Entry: Aden Alliance Ranking System_

_ The Aden Alliance developed a simplified ranking system shortly after its formation to make it easier for the various volunteers in its ranks to transition from which ever military they originated from. Thus there now exists a tiered system shared between the various branches of the Aden Alliance Forces (Alliance Marines, Alliance Navy, Alliance Arbite-Enforcers, and the Alliance Adepts) with a few sub-ranks and special cases that exist amongst them. _

_ Tier 1: Marines- Errant, Navy- Shipman, Arbites- Arbiter, Adepts- Initiate _

_ Tier 2: Marines- Veteran, Navy- Lieutenant, Arbites- Marshal, Adepts- Cabalite _

_ Tier 3: Marines- Captain, Navy- Ensign, Arbites- Director, Adepts- Apostle_

_ Tier 4: Marines- Commander, Navy- Captain, Arbites- Judge, Adepts- Sage_

_ Tier 5: Marines- General, Navy- Admiral, Arbites- Major, Adepts- Archsage_

**0o0**

**Author's Second Note: **_I hope you are continuing to enjoy All That is Terrible, All that is Grand; expect the real action to pick up next chapter as the turian's start attacking Shanxi. Thank you. Any opinion on what Shepard's class should be? I have decided to get feed back from any fans that care to make suggestions. Nothing complicated- just something kind of like these:_

_Jack- female jurak Barbarian (biotic berserker) [Custom Archetype]._

_Captain Huered- male ferran brute Thane [Alternate Paths: Martial Characters by Little Red Goblin Games]._

_Ensign Frell Roth- male elf Expert._

_Liminod Tzark- male goreaux Technician, motorist trade, [Age of Electrotech by __Radiance House] _

_Shepard- male ironborn ? [You help decide!] _


End file.
